Monday-Monday – The no-name dog
First and foremost, welcome back from the holidays. I hope each of you shared the past few weeks with friends and family. I did and I admit being blessed to have such wonderful people around me. 2013 is going to be a busy year, full of excitement and fun. I hope you’ll stick with me! My friends, fellow writers, and most of all, my readers are why I’m here! 
There are tons of blogs about resolutions, so I’m not going to even bring them up! Instead, let’s talk about how the no-name dog in The Green-Eyed Doll got his name! Larissa Hoffman interviewed this dog last Friday! Pop over http://networkedblogs.com/GYdHE and read his answers to 5 questions.
I’m a big believer in rescue dogs. It’s not that I have anything against pedigrees, but I have a soft spot for any ‘throw away’. So it shouldn’t have surprised me when a stray wandered into my hero’s life. He just turned up one day and sort of wrote his own story as he became an important secondary character. He taught me things about my hero that I didn’t know. I fell in love with the big mutt and thought you might too. Here’s a little bit of information about the no-name dog.
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During the hottest summer and longest drought on record, a sad-eyed mix of yellow lab and goodness knows what other breed, homesteaded Sheriff Matt Ballard’s small patch of land in Butte Crest, Texas
The dog wasn’t aggressive. In fact, he appeared good natured and hungry. Matt put out water and a few scraps, which the dog inhaled. But when he reached out to pet this hungry hound, he shied away. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out the dog had been abused, so the sheriff didn’t press. Instead, he decided to let the dog learn to trust at his own pace.
An easy alliance was formed. No-Name followed Matt around, not too close but never far behind. Soon he was coming in and out of the house with Matt, eating and drinking everything offered.
Still, the dog refused to accept affection. No way would he allow Matt to touch him.
One day, a beautiful red-head named Catherine, stopped by Matt’s ranch. The sorry mutt fell in love with her at first sight. The traitor not only allowed her to pet and stroke him, he followed her around like a…well, like a dog!
Expecting No-Name to be amenable to his touch, Matt tried to scratch the animal’s ears only to be rebuffed again.
Catherine asked the mutt’s name, and Matt wasted no time telling her the dog didn’t have one. Incredulous, she insisted he to be called something appropriate.
Matt didn’t have to study long. One name immediately came to mind as he watched the dog fall at her feet.
So now you know a little of how No-Name earned the moniker Benedict Arnold.
But…Benedict made his preference clear. He worshiped Catherine. What do you think had to happen for the dog and Matt to make peace?
